


A Piece of Your Soul

by Galra_Keith (orphan_account)



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-22 02:31:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17051387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Galra_Keith
Summary: Callum and Rayla have been captured by Soren and Claudia. Ezran and Azymondias managed to get away, somehow, and now Soren and Claudia must lug their two captors around as they give chase. As night falls, Soren suggests they take shelter inside a cave along the road the Xadia.





	1. Ribs

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Val_Creative](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Val_Creative/gifts).



> Setting note: Sometime in series 2. Callum and Rayla have been captured by Soren and Claudia. Ezran and Azymondias managed to get away, somehow, and now Soren and Claudia must lug their two captors around as they give chase. As night falls, Soren suggests they take shelter inside a cave along the road the Xadia.

“Rayla?” Callum muttered, and Rayla felt his voice vibrate through her back. “My ribs want to know if there’s any progress.”

Rayla, her hand twisted and bent up between the tightly-tied ropes, scowled as she whispered back.

“Oh, am I making you uncomfortable? I’m _so_ sorry.”

For good measure, she dug her elbow deeper into his side, and tried not to feel too satisfied with his bitten-back yelp. She’d been working for an hour to try and free her right hand from behind her back, but the foppish blond one—Soren, to use his dumb human name—had tied the knots tighter than a binding spell. Tied back-to-back, the only direction that had any room to move was directly backwards. Right into Callum’s ribs.

And _stars_ , was he being a baby about it.

“But yes,” she said. “There is progress. Just not much.”

“Oh,” Callum said. “Well. Lucky I’ve got a bunch of ribs. They can’t _all_ be important.”

“ _Quiet_ ,” Rayla said, eyes flicking to their captors. “Do you want them to hear?”

Inside the mouth of a cave this big, their voices didn’t carry all that much further than the outdoors. But Soren and Claudia were only a few meters away, parked by a fire and within arm’s reach of a lot of weapons. They were talking in casual day-time voices for now, and hadn’t heard the muttering and shuffling coming from their prisoners yet. One slightly-too-loud and definitely-too-wimpy yelp, though, and not even their boring babbling would cover Rayla’s escape attempt.

“I bet this is it,” Claudia was saying. “Ethermind Cave. It’s got all the features.”

“Really,” Soren said, stretching out the ‘e’ like he tended to do. Every word he said, Rayla thought, sounded like he was mocking the idea of the word itself. “And what features are those?”

‘Between Katolis and the border of Xadia,” Claudia said, checking it off her fingers. “Brimming with weird magical energy. Dark. Very spooky.”

“That’s every cave between Katolis and Xadia,” Soren said.

“Nuh-uh,” Claudia said. “The magic here is … wibbly.”

“Wibbly.”

“ _Super_ wibbly.”

“And that’s what they say about Ethermind Cave, is it? That it’s wibbly.”

“No,” Claudia said. “What they _say_ about it is that it’s the grave of one of the first dark magic users. The mages of old caught him using dark magic to unnaturally prolong his life, and were annoyed at him because he wouldn’t tell them how.”

“Annoyed at him.”

“Yes! _Really_ annoyed. So they cursed him to live forever in a dark, spooky, magically-wibbly cave between Katolis and Xadia. Too far from the border to draw on the essence of any magical creatures and break the spell. Far enough from Katolis that nobody would find him. Just him, alone with his decaying body and fraying mind. Forever.”

“Good grief. Because they were _annoyed_ at him?”

“Well, he wouldn’t share,” Claudia said. “It’s rude.”

They’d been on and on like this the whole time. Right now, it was the cave. Other times it was the road. Other times, the forest. Or the sky. Or the grass. Or the pack of critters nearby. There didn’t seem to be a minute they weren’t chatting at each other about whatever _thing_ they’d just seen, and there didn’t seem to be a thing they’d just seen that they couldn’t snip at each other about.

Rayla had long stopped listening to the words they said.

All she could hear now was useful background noise to cover their escape.

She gritted her teeth, blocked out the burning pain of the rope against her skin, and forced her right arm to wriggle further back. She didn’t need much. Just enough space to get her fingers around one of the ropes, and to start working at unpicking the fibers on it with her nails. It’d be tough. Her fingers would bleed and it might take forever. But if she could just manage to loosen it enough to slip free, it’d be worth it. All the strain. All the burning.

“ _Yeoooouch_.”

All the _moaning_.

“I know,” she said, careful not to let her voice echo. “But it’s the only way.”

“It’s fine,” Callum whispered. “We need to get to Ezran. Whatever it takes.”

“Even if that’s a couple of ribs?”

She felt him nodding.

“Even if it’s all of them.”

It was enough—even in this dark, very spooky, wibbly cave—to make her smile. Callum was a bit of a goof, and clumsy, and sometimes oafish, and _always_ irritating. But she’d never seen him make a choice that put himself first. Not since the day she’d met him, a knife at his throat, and he’d insisted she kill him instead of Ezran.

“Then grit your teeth, Prince,” she said. “This is going to hurt.”

And it did.

 

 


	2. The Shadow

Three hours later, pitch dark outside, Claudia asleep by the fire and Soren sleepily gazing into the night, Rayla managed to slip her hand out through the bottom of the ropes. It felt freezing out there. She was so used to the close heat of her body pressed up against Callum’s bony back that fresh air felt stingingly cold. Now that there was space to move, Callum, too, had managed to free one of his hands. Their fingers brushed against one another now and then, each exploring their newfound freedom.

She ignored the way he snatched his away so quickly every time. Like he'd been caught touching something he shouldn't.

They had to stop whispering some time ago, once the other two had stopped droning on and on about cave mushrooms or whatever, but neither of them needed words to express their excitement. She could _feel_ Callum’s heart beating faster than ever as she slipped her shoulder down to the rope line, shifting against him for the first time since they’d been tied up.

It was only a matter of time now.

Even if it wasn’t tonight. Even if took another full day of gentle, careful shifting and shuffling and scraping, she’d get free. Then it was a single bound to her blades, less than a second to relieve Soren of his sword, and a few more seconds to silence Claudia. A strike to the throat, maybe. A makeshift rope gag. Maybe something as simple as spooking her horse—make her choose between regaining control or drawing a rune and speaking an incantation.

With surprise on her side, it’d be easy.

As long as nothing—

 

“ _What are you doing_?”

 

\--unforeseen happened.

Rayla jolted against the ropes holding her together as the unfamiliar voice bounced around the entrance to the cave. Callum did the same, his heart slamming out a rhythm through his whole body. She felt him answer the strange voice.

“Who is that?” he said, calling out into the dark.

“Who’s there?” Rayla added.

The low-burning flame from the fire didn’t illuminate much. All she could see beyond the closest few walls were shadows, and the occasional glimmer of light off of puddles of water. There was nothing that looked like a person, _certainly_ not one close enough to be speaking to them this loudly.

“Claudia! Soren! Someone’s here,” Callum said.

Rayla’s eyes snapped to the older pair, but they didn’t move.

Claudia slept on. Soren didn’t react at all. Just stared forward, like he was frozen in place.

“They can’t hear you,” the voice said. “They can’t hear anything, for now.”

It was coming from all around. A gravelly, wispy voice that felt like it was being breathed straight down Rayla’s ear. She flicked her eyes all around, searching for anything that might give away where the stranger was.

“I saw the strangest thing,” the voice continued. “A soldier and a mage, taking shelter in my home. With a boy, and a Moonshadow Elf of all things, bound and held captive. What could it mean, I thought? What could have brought them here like this? What could a human child and a fledgling elf have done to get themselves so...trapped?”

Rayla, despite herself, felt indignity spike inside her.

“I’m _not_ fledgling,” she said.

“And I’m not a child,” Callum added quickly.

Finally, Rayla’s eyes managed to pick out a glimmer of movement in the dark. She snapped her head to the left, gazing further into the cave, and saw something shift. It was hard to make out. Like a shadow that kept changing shape, or a cloud of black smoke that soundlessly billowed from one shape to the next. She watched it for a second as it grew bigger—or _closer—_ until it finally took on the rough shape of a human man. No details. No features. No skin or clothes or hair.

Just a dark shadow. Staring.

“No, no, of course,” the voice said, and Rayla could _feel_ it looking at them. “Forgive me. I see more closely, now. You, boy, aren’t a child. You’re a mage.”

Rayla felt Callum pause.

“How did you…?”

“And you, elf...an assassin, yes?”

“I’m not anything.”

“Oh, but you are,” the shadow said. “I’ve seen your kind before. Hundreds of them. Thousands. A powerful people, even without the moon to draw from. Magic is woven through your very essence unlike any other native of Xadia.”

Rayla’s free hand searched desperately for something to grab, pawing at air and rope and Callum’s jacket. But there was nothing useful. The ropes were inhumanly tight, and her fingers couldn’t even brush the cave floor to find a stone. She wouldn’t have been able to throw it even if she was lucky enough to find one.

She was— _ugh—_ helpless.

“What do you want?” Callum said.

“Want?” the shadow said. “I want to help you.”

“Help us?” Rayla said, spitting the words. “Why would _you_ help us?”

“Is it so hard to believe?” the shadow said. “I see your struggle, Elf Assassin. I’ve been watching you since the start. Your attempts to break free en-kindle my respect. You hurt, but you bear it. Both of you. Would you not help, in my place? Especially knowing that the struggle is futile.”

“ _Futile?_ ” Rayla said. “I’m nearly out, here. We don’t need your help.”

“Oh, but you do,” the shadow said. “Those ropes are held in place by more than knots. You must feel the impossible grip they have on you. The otherworldly strength with which they bind you. Yes. You feel it.

“Dark magic imbues them. Only dark magic can loosen them.”

Rayla felt her teeth clench tight enough to snap steel.

She couldn’t help herself—she strained against the ropes with both arms, forcing her shoulders to push outward. Her muscles flattened against the ropes, and soon enough she felt them being squashed against her own bones. It was no good. She felt like she was trying to use her tongue to bore through stone.

She felt Callum doing the same thing, and felt him slacken when he came to the same conclusion.

“Rayla,” he said. “I think he’s right. Claudia enchanted the ropes.”

“I am right,” the shadow said. “I know dark magic well. I can help.”

“It’s a trick,” she said, ignoring the shadow. “We don’t even know what this thing is, or if it wants to kill us.”

“It’s _clearly_ some kind of … spirit. An old-timey-speaking spirit that maybe can get us out of here. And besides, if it wanted to kill us, wouldn’t it just kill us right now? While we can’t fight back? I think...maybe it really does want to help.”

Rayla rolled her eyes.

“Weren’t you listening to those two before?” she said. “About the Ethermind?”

“The centuries-old legend?” Callum said. “Yeah, I was listening. That’s a kid’s story.”

“I don’t know,” Rayla said, glaring at the Shadow. “Looks pretty wibbly to me.”

“Rayla—”

“And help us _how_ , exactly?” she said. “I don’t know if you’ve looked at it, but it’s made of shadow and smoke. Even without dark magic, these ropes are going to take something just a little sharper than a wisp of cloud.”

“It’s natural to distrust,” the shadow said. “We don’t have long before my power wears off on the others. But if it would soothe you, I can explain exactly how I can help. I just need something from each of you.”

“Oh yeah?” Rayla said. “What’s that, exactly? Our eternal souls?”

“Rayla, please,” Callum said. And his voice felt different against her back this time. He’d dropped it a pitch, and she could tell he was speaking with a sagging head. “I know it’s dangerous. But what choice do we have? I _need_ to find Ezran. We _need_ to get Azymondias home. We can’t do that if we’re tied up in this cave, and we can't do it if Soren and Claudia find them first. Right now, Ethermind or not...we don’t have a choice.”

For once, the shadow didn’t have anything to say. It let Callum’s words hang in the air. Let them pierce Rayla’s better judgement and poke at her emotions. She knew this was a bad idea. This spirit didn’t have to be the Ethermind of the children’s stories to be dangerous. Striking some kind of bargain with it in exchange for their freedom seemed like a guaranteed way to _make_ this into a children’s story of it’s own. A cautionary tale about the perils of being really, really dumb.

But then there was Callum. Ready to risk his life for Ezran again.

Just like he’d been ready to risk it all for hers, time and again.

She let her head sag, too.

“Fine,” she said, and the shadow pulsed. “What do you need from each of us?”

There was a moment’s silence.

And then.

“Blood,” it said. “And flesh.”


	3. Blood and Flesh

“We have only moments,” the shadow said. “The others will be free of my spell soon. You must be precise. Do exactly as I say, exactly when I say it, and I will free you from the spell and ropes both. Boy, do you agree?”

Rayla swallowed as Callum answered.

“I agree.”

“Elf?”

She wanted to say no. She _desperately wanted_ another way.

But there wasn’t one.

“I agree,” she said.

“Then let us begin,” the shadow said. It didn’t even pause before launching into the incantation. “ _Hself rouy fo evig!”_

Behind Rayla, Callum’s entire body seized up. She felt him convulse, and go stiff as a board, then sag like he was made out of soggy cloth. She craned her neck, trying to see what was happening to him, but all she saw was the tendrils of shadow and smoke disappearing as they lanced into Callum’s body.

“Callum!” she yelled. “Are you all right?”

And he answered.

In his voice, but not with his words.

“Now, elf,” Callum said. “I need power. Your blood. Quickly.”

She tried not to feel sick. It was the same timbre and pitch and sound as Callum, but the tone and choice of words made it sound nothing like him. She gritted her teeth as she used her fingernails to dig in to her own skin, draw a line of blood from the tiny cut, and pressed it into Callum’s free hand. She felt it evaporate—felt it absorb into his skin, and the way it surged through him like a jolt of lightning.

The cave seemed to get darker. The same shadows that had taken on the form of a man a few seconds ago swirled in the air, closing in on them, enveloping them. Wind howled through the cave as though, loud as the storm that’d sprung forth from Callum’s primal stone.

Rayla closed her eyes tight.

“ _Sleas eseht kaerb!_ ” Callum said.

And suddenly, she was free.

The ropes fell away, a useless coil on the cave floor. She didn’t waste a second. Her eyes snapped open, and she used her aching, bloodless legs to spring forward, crossing almost the entire distance to the campfire in a single bound. She snatched her blades and flicked them open to their full length, whirling on the spot where she’d just been standing.

But there was no demon to fight. No monster. No Ethermind.

All she could see was Callum.

“Fascinating,” Callum said, staring at his own hands. “How in the realms did a lowly mage and a common soldier manage to capture this one?”

“ _Callum_ ,” Rayla called out. “Are you there?”

Shadow Callum ignored her question.

“The magic inside of him...inside of _me_. Does he underestimate himself so much that he can’t feel it?” Callum dropped his hands, and locked eyes with Rayla. They weren’t his eyes. His face was the same daffy bundle of gawky, awkward features. But the eyes were deep, empty black. “Do _you_ underestimate him so? It is a mistake if you do, elf.”

“Let him go,” Rayla said, blades ready.

“Fear not,” Shadow Callum said. “The spell I cast was fleeting. With that tiny drop of blood, I can only maintain our connection for so long. Although, of course, with the power at this boy’s disposal, it might last a fair while longer than I assumed.”

Shadow Callum took a step forward.

Rayla, a step back.

“How about you let him go _now_ ,” she said.

Shadow Callum stepped forward again.

“ _Let him go now_ ,” he said, mimicking her. “Or you’ll do what? Stab me? Run me through? _Kill_ me?”

Rayla’s head was swimming. Her palms were slick with sweat and traces of her blood, gripping blades that seemed suddenly so useless to her. She could lunge right now, strike at Callum’s feet, or bounce from the walls to try and flank him. He wasn’t that fast. He wouldn’t be able to stop her.

But _then_ what?

Try to knock him out? Choke him?

Open up an artery in his neck?

Across the way, Shadow Callum grinned at her.

A feral, unhinged grin.

“Do you really think you could?” he said.

Rayla had no warning.

“C _ircumaggero!”_ Shadow Callum yelled.

Pillars of rock sprung from the ground all around her, knocking her sideways and pinning her between jagged edges. The sound was incredible. Rock bursting through rock. She dropped one of her blades—heard it clang to the ground—and forced herself to roll backward, down between the craggy rocks, and out to safety.

Callum had _never_ used Earth magic before.

It was supposed to be extremely difficult to learn.

Whatever this spirit was—Ethermind or some other thing—it knew a lot of spells.

“ _Voco_ ,” Shadow Callum said, and Rayla watched as her blade sailed through the air and into his outstretched hand. His body jerked again, stiffened and slackened in the space of a moment, and she saw the hilt of her weapon glow purple.

The blood.

He was absorbing it.

“ _Such_ _strength_ ,” Shadow Callum said. “The combination of you and him! He to channel the magic, you to provide the source. Blood and flesh. The sheer, singular power you could be! _We_ could be! It’s...beautiful. _Hself rouy fo evig!”_

Callum’s body pulsed again, like his whole body was being engulfed in shadow before blinking back into the light. The dark magic seemed to entirely consume him. For a split second, she saw his head sag downward, his limbs go slack, and she thought she caught a glimmer of the normal, awkward teenager that she’d known since Katolis.

The incantation...had it shaken the spirit loose?

“Callum!” she yelled. “It’s me! Can you hear me?”

“Rayla?” he said.

And it _was_ his voice.

She was a whisker away from smiling at him when his eyes went wide, and he chose the one word he had time to say before the shadow took control once more.

“Run!”

Callum’s eyes went dark again, and he took on a new stance. Tall and rigid, straight-backed and hips forward. It was the confidence and cocksure-ness of a warrior—a demeanour that Callum would never even try to take on. The kind of thing he joked about not being good at.

Shadow Callum smirked at her again, and this time she knew what it meant.

She threw herself sideways as the spells started flying once more.

“ _Invada Terraum! Jact_ _o_ _Silex!_ C _ircumaggero!”_

Rayla didn’t even have time to yell in surprise.

The pillars of rock were joined by tiny, jagged flecks of stone, each one propelled through the air faster than an arrow from a bow. They weren’t pinpoint-accurate, luckily, but there were so _many_ of them. She tumbled sideways, back toward the mouth of the cave, and felt several pinpricks in her arm. The pebbles had lodged in her skin, drawing blood.

She didn’t have time to dwell.

The ground beneath her feet was roiling.

Whatever command of Earth magic this spirit had, it was far beyond anything Rayla had ever seen before. Stone bubbled and shifted like it was water, almost trapping her feet in sudden quicksand. More jagged pillars of rock sprouted from the walls, lancing at her, trying their best to impale her.

Dodge here. Jump. Evade.

More pebbles pierced her skin.

She fell to one knee, her balance lost in a wave of pain.

And then, without warning, a pale hand on her arm.

The blood there glowed purple, surged toward the white-knuckled hand, and disappeared.

“ _Ecneserp siht lepsid_!” Claudia’s voice cried out.

Rayla barely saw what happened next.

There was a pulse. A wave of light. She was tugged off her feet entirely.

And then, suddenly, she saw stars.

And the moon.


	4. The Ethermind

“What in the _realms_ happened in there?” Soren said.

“That wasn’t Callum,” Claudia said. “Something happened. Explain.”

“Okay,” Rayla said. “But you’re going to be mad.”

They were outside now.

Soren had half-dragged, half-carried her hundreds of feet away from the entrance to the cave, back out into the forest and the cold they’d taken shelter from in the first place. For an agonizing few minutes, they’d waited. Eyes fixed on the entrance to the cave. On guard for Callum to appear, black-eyed and cackling, ready to launch another volley of spells at them.

So far, he was nowhere to be found.

Rayla filled them both in as quickly as she could.

Told them all about the shadow, and the deal they’d struck to loosen the dark magic in the ropes, and how they’d each agreed to give a piece of themselves. Rayla, her blood. Callum, his body. And how the spirit had taken a turn for the maniacal once it was in control of Callum’s mind.

“Oh flames,” Claudia said, “You _idiots_.”

“Those _do_ seem like the actions of idiots,” Soren said.

“And you!” Claudia said, punching Soren hard in the arm. “I _told_ you this was Ethermind Cave.”

“ _Ow_ ,” Soren said. “What makes you so sure?”

“Do you see him following us?”

Soren took a moment to squint at the entrance to the cave.

“No.”

“No,” Claudia said. “Ergo, he is cursed to remain in the cave. Ergo, it is Ethermind Cave.”

“Okayyyyy, maybe. Does that make a difference?”

“Yes, it makes a difference, dummy!” Claudia said. “The Ethermind is hundreds of years old. Do you even know how that’s possible?”

“Obviously not,” Soren said. “You said he wouldn’t tell.”

“He wouldn’t share the method,” Claudia said. “But it was common knowledge that the way he did it was through transference. When the body he was in got too old or too frail for his liking, he’d discard it and transfer his spirit into a new body. The thing about this _new_ body is that was always younger. One that could cast magic spells so that he could seal himself inside his new host forever. A young mage. Does that sound like _anyone_ we know?”

“Hmm,” Soren said. “Well, there’s you. But you’re probably talking about Call—”

“ _Yes_ , I’m talking about Callum.”

“Wait,” Rayla said. “So this Ethermind has taken control of Callum? That’s it? There’s nothing we can do about it?”

Claudia folded her arms.

“What incantation did it use?” she said. “When it first took control of Callum, what did it say?”

Rayla bit the inside of her cheek, straining to remember.

“Erm...something like…self rovo evig.”

Incantations all sounded roughly like a big jumble of nonsense to her.

“ _Hself rouy fo evig_?” Claudia said.

“Yes!” Rayla said. “That one.”

Claudia seemed to decompress at that.

“Okay,” she said, letting out a deep breath. “‘Give of your flesh’. That’s a temporary possession spell, so the good news is that Callum is still in there somewhere. The bad news is that when I say ‘temporary’, I mean temporary by Ethermind standards.”

“By Ethermind standards,” Soren said. “So...what. A few days? A week?”

“With Moonshadow Elf blood?” Claudia tilted her head side to side, mulling over some calculation in her head. “Two years. Three at most.”

Rayla’s heart almost exploded in her chest.

“ _Years_?” she said. “No way. Not acceptable. We need to get him back _now_.”

“Yeahhhh,” Soren said, “I’m not spending years out here waiting on a spell. Can’t you just, you know...”

He trailed off, and wiggled his fingers in the air.

“Zap him back?”

Claudia raised an eyebrow at him, and deepened her voice.

“ _Hey, Claudia, can’t you just, you know, overcome the power of one of the original dark mages who’s had centuries to hone and perfect his knowledge of magic inside a wibbly cave? Just zap the Ethermind and untangle his soul from the step-prince?_ _Just use magic to fix everything...magically?”_

Soren sucked on a tooth.

“Yeah, basically. That.”

Claudia rolled her eyes, and looked like she was about to start in on him again. Rayla had heard them go back and forth for _hours_ while she was slung over the back of Soren’s horse. She knew they could keep snipping at each other until the sun came up if nobody got in their way. So she balled her fists, clenched her teeth, and got in their way.

“Claudia, please,” she said.

The quietness of her voice seemed to take the other two off guard.

She took a second to organize her thoughts into words. It was true enough that she didn’t _need_ Callum to return Azymondias to his family. Less than need him, it was entirely possible that he’d make the entire mission a lot harder once they crossed the border into Xadia. There was no logical reason why she couldn’t just leave right now. Give Claudia and Soren the slip. Track down Ezran. Make up a story about what happened.

It’d be easy. It’d be the smart thing to do.

Except Callum wouldn’t even think about doing that if he was here, and she was in there.

There was no world in which he _would_ be here instead of her.

Because he’d have insisted the Ethermind take him every time.

“I know you don’t trust me. But I know you care about Callum, and some part of you must know that I do, as well. We can’t leave him in there and wait it out. He struck a bargain with the Ethermind because he needed to save his brother, even though he knew it could go wrong. And I _let_ him. Please. We have to do something.

“ _I_ have to do something.”

Claudia looked at her, like she was trying to figure her out. There wasn’t so much as a breath of wind to rustle the trees as they held their stare. The whole night seemed to close in on them, and a silence so fragile that it could shatter with a careless breath took hold.

Soren flicked his eyes back and forth. Claudia, then Rayla, then Claudia, then Rayla.

“Callum’s girlfriend is right,” he announced, destroying the quiet.

Rayla’s eyes shot up. “Wha—”

Soren plowed on over the top of her protest.

“There must be something we can do.”

Claudia unfolded her arms and put them on her hips.

“Well, there is _something_ ,” she said.

Rayla’s heart leapt…

And then sank when Claudia’s expression went darker.

“But you’re not going to like it.”


	5. Bear It

Rayla kept Claudia’s instructions on loop in her head as she trudged back to the entrance of Ethermind Cave. In her right hand, the blade that the Ethermind hadn’t stolen. In her left, she grasped a piece of rope that stretched behind her, coiled a few times around Soren’s waist, and knotted around his hands.

She gritted her teeth, and hoped for the hundredth time that she’d tied them properly.

 

 _I can’t go with you_ , Claudia had said. _The Ethermind possesses mages because it needs to be able to cast spells if it wants to keep its new host body. If we banish it from Callum and I’m there, it’ll switch immediately to me, and the flip-flop-switch-swap will go on like that forever. Rayla, Soren...it’s all down to you two._

 

“You’ll regret this, Elf!” Soren shouted from behind her, struggling valiantly against the ropes on his hands. “I am a captain of the Katolis Crownguard! When my men hear of this, there isn’t a magical realm far enough for you to run to escape their justice.”

“Oh, right,” Rayla called back. “When your men hear of this. Maybe you can write to them with your tied-up hands.”

“I’m serious, Elf,” Soren said. “This is a mistake.”

“Yeah, yeah,” She said. “Won’t be my first tonight.”

 

 _What it wants_ , Claudia said _, is to bind itself to Callum’s body forever. And to do that, it needs enough source energy to cast an incredibly powerful dark magic spell. It needs...well, about one Moonshadow Elf’s worth of magical blood. It won’t risk killing you right away, Rayla, because it needs your_ life _essence. That gives you a chance to go in there and try to make a bargain for Callum’s life. Use Soren as a bargaining chip._

_And get as close as you can to it._

 

“Callum!” Rayla called, tugging Soren forward. “Or Ethermind. Whoever you are.”

Her voice echoed around the cave, disappearing down tunnels she hadn’t seen earlier—or that the Ethermind had made fresh with Earth magic. Over by one them, lying crumpled on the ground, was Callum’s red scarf. She walked over to it and scooped it up, tying it to her arm so it wouldn’t get lost.

“Ethermind!” she called out. “I’ve got a proposal for you.”

 

 _You’re really going to have to sell it_ , Claudia said. _You’re there to trade Soren’s life for Callum’s. It doesn’t know that you’re aware of the curse, or that it needs a mage body. Make it believe you, and_ don’t _let it draw any more of your blood. It’s dangerous enough as it is without powering up a dozen times over._

 

“This thug,” she called out, yanking on Soren’s ropes, making him grunt in pain. “For my friend back. He’s strong. He’s a respected member of the Crownguard. Think of all the places you can go wearing _his_ body. So many more than you could as a kid.”

“It’s true what they say about you Moonshadow Elves,” Soren spat, seething as he yanked on the ropes. “Bloodthirsty and cruel, all of you!”

Rayla _yanked_ the ropes again, and he grimaced.

“Shut up,” she said. “Talk to _me_ about cruelty? I’m not the one who’s trying to capture children. I’m trying to _save_ Callum’s life by swapping it for the person who might be trying to end it.”

“ _End_ it?” Soren said. “I would never.”

“And yet,” Rayla said, “you brought us here.”

Soren was either doing a fantastic job of acting the part, or else he was genuinely upset that Rayla thought he might want to kill Callum. Either way, she thought, it was a good performance for the Ethermind.

“Come on, Ethermind,” she called out. “Bargain with me.”

For a few moments, there was nothing.

And then, from the depths of one of the tunnels, came Callum’s voice.

“Bargain with you, Rayla?” he said.

She shuddered.

She hadn’t expected it to use her name.

It made it sound like _him_.

“Trade the body of the mage Prince of Katolis for a lowly Crownguard?” Callum— _the Ethermind_ , not Callum—said. He was walking forward slowly, gradually coming into the light of the still-burning fire. He’d discarded his jacket, too, and one of his sleeves was torn. It looked singed at the edges. The Ethermind had been casting fire spells. “That’s right. I know all there is to know about you. About Callum. _Me_. About swordsman Soren, and the talented mage Claudia, and the missing Prince Ezran. To say nothing of the newborn Dragon Prince. We’re on quite the adventure together, aren’t we, Rayla?”

She gritted her teeth.

So, it could read Callum's memories.

“If you know all that, then think. You’re inside one of the Princes of this realm. How far do you think you can go, exactly, while you’re in his skin? Everywhere you go, you’ll be recognized. You’ll have duties. You’ll be watched night and day. Isn’t it better to keep a _low_ profile?”

“Oh, yes,” the Ethermind said. “Being a prince. How _awful_.”

“You’d be found out,” she said. “Sooner or later. Someone would notice.”

The Ethermind didn’t seem to be listening.

“Would you like to know what he thinks of you?” Callum said. In an instant, he changed his stance, adopting a more gawky and awkward gait that made him transform back into the Callum she knew. “You’re so capable, Rayla. So skilled and confident. You make me feel like I’m safe, even when we’re facing the greatest danger. No-one’s ever made me feel that way before. You’re special.”

 

 _Bear it_ , Claudia said. _Don’t listen to its lies. Don’t believe for a second that it’s Callum speaking. It’s all a trick. You_ have _to bear it._

 

She felt blood rising in her cheeks.

Behind her, Soren cleared his throat.

“Lovely.”

She yanked his ropes again.

“Shut _up_ ,” she said. “Both of you.”

“I’m only telling you what’s already inside here,” Callum said, tapping his temple. Every one of his tics and quirks and foibles were there. Even the people closest to him would’ve been forced to admit they were talking _with_ Callum. “I think you’re beautiful. The way you move when you fight. The way you sit, and the way you squint when you’re studying something closely. The little pout you do when you’re annoyed with me. I think it’s all so ...”

He trailed off, cocked his head to the side, and became the Ethermind again.

“I think the word he’s looking for is _alluring_ ,” it said.

Rayla grunted.

“Then you don’t know Callum,” she said.

She pulled on Soren’s ropes once again, tugging him forward, and planted her knee in his back.

“Here,” she said, shoving him forward. “Just take him. Please. Nobody will ever know.”

Soren stumbled forward, falling to his knees a few arms’ length from the Ethermind. The Ethermind looked him up and down, dark eyes never dwelling too long in one place, and then turned its attention back to Rayla.

“You’re willing to sacrifice this man? For Callum?”

“Of course,” Rayla said. “You have Callum’s thoughts. You know who he is.”

“Callum— _I—_ have some affection for this man. It seems I don’t want him harmed.”

“He’s chasing us. He took us captive!”

The Ethermind let itself adopt Callum’s gait and mannerisms once more.

It was Callum again.

“Soren looked out for me,” Callum said. “Sure, he can be a bully sometimes. But he’s been almost like an older brother when I needed him. I’d happily give myself up in his place. Rayla, please. Don’t do this.”

Despite herself, Rayla felt a pang of guilt.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s the only way.”

Soren, his eyes widening, shuffled so that he faced Rayla.

“Elf, no,” he said. “Callum wouldn’t want this. Please.”

“Shut up, coward,” Rayla said. “You have no idea what Callum would want.”

The Ethermind’s back straightened, shoulders squared, eyes darkened.

“Do his wishes mean so little to you?” it asked.

Rayla scowled.

“His _life_ means more.”

The moment hung in the air, and for just a split second Rayla doubted everything. What was she _doing_ here? What was the point of this argument? Of this bargain? Why did she trust Claudia? And believe there was any way to reverse the Ethermind’s hold in the first place?

Was she about to make the worst mistake of her life?

“Good! Very well. I agree.”

Whatever Rayla had been about to say caught in her throat.

“You...do?”

“Yes. I will return Callum to you in exchange for this...more _physical_ vessel. This less noticeable vessel. This inferior, but more sturdy vessel. An ancient spirit still feels, and your appeal was well made. I find myself... _reluctant_ to separate you.”

“I...thank you,” Rayla said.

 

 _Sell it_.

 

She felt a tear form at the edge of her eyelid.

“ _Thank you_ ,” she said. “You don’t know what this means.”

“I have an idea what it means,” the Ethermind said, and grinned widely. Warmly. “And I’m happy to help. But I _do_ just need one little thing from you. If I’m to cast another transference spell, I need power.”

“Power,” Rayla said. “You mean...blood?”

“Blood,” the Ethermind said. “Just a little.”

Rayla looked at her blade, and at her hand, and brought the two close together.

“You can have as much as you need,” she said. “Just...give Callum back.”

The Ethermind took a step toward Soren, and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“You have my word,” it said.

Rayla rested her blade on her palm.

Her heart was thudding against her chest like it was trying to burrow out of there.

This was it.

“All right,” she said.

 _I’m sorry, Callum_. _I’m so sorry._

“Now!”


	6. A Piece of Your Soul

At her word, Soren wrested his hands apart. The ropes gave way easily—Rayla had tied them so they’d slip off the moment Soren pulled them outward—and he drew his sword in one fluid motion. He was no Moonshadow Elf, Rayla thought, but he _was_ fast.

One tenth of a second later, the sword disappeared again.

Buried.

In Callum’s chest.

Rayla wasn’t prepared for the involuntary rush of anger and fear that completely hijacked her. She’d known what she was about to see, but it wasn’t enough to steel her nerves from the shocked look on Callum’s face. Or from the quickly-blooming red stain that was spreading outward from Soren’s hilt, across Callum’s entire chest. Or from the way his whole body went limp as ragdoll. No convulsion. No pulse, like before. Not even a gasp.

Just...dead weight.

“Callum!” Rayla yelled, and darted forward.

In the second it took to reach him, she saw the shadow of the Ethermind seep from Callum’s body. The dark cloud leaked from behind his eyes, and from his nose and mouth and ears, and even from the hole in his chest. It hissed as it left, some kind of barely-audible curse that Rayla couldn’t understand and didn’t care to try.

All she cared about was what had to happen next.

  


_You need to show him this_ , Claudia had said, scrawling down an incantation on a piece of paper. _Put it right in his face and tell him to read it. Soren, for the love of the Realms, do NOT stab him so much that he can’t speak. Understand?_

  


Rayla yanked the paper from her pocket.

Soren, meanwhile, pulled his sword from Callum’s body and lowered him to the ground.

“He has a few seconds,” Soren said. “I had to mortally wound him.”

Rayla ignored him, kneeling at Callum’s side instead and shoving the paper under his nose. He wasn’t moving. Wasn’t really breathing. Just staring forward, shock on his face.

“Callum,” she said. “Callum, listen to me. You need to read this. Right now.”

His eyes were focused, then unfocused, then focused again. He was dipping into unconsciousness already. Rayla bit her lip, and shook the paper.

“Come on, Callum. Read it. Right now!”

He lifted his head a little.

“Loussss….” he started.

“Yes,” Rayla said, and she readied her blade. “Come on, you can do it!”

“Lous rouy fo—” the words choked out on a cough.

Rayla leaned forward, heart in her mouth, and slapped him across the face as hard as she could.

“Callum! Read!”

His eyes focused, and he lifted his head.

“ _Lous rouy fo eceip a_!”

  


_Once the incantation is spoken_ , Claudia said, _he’ll need to draw on dark magic power to complete the spell. That, Rayla, is where you come in_.

  


Rayla didn’t hesitate.

She wrapped her palm around her blade and yanked it through, the sharp edge slicing a shallow cut from the heel of her hand all the way to the little finger. Blood poured from the wound, and she pressed it Callum’s chest as tightly as she could. Her blood mixed with his, tingling beneath her hand, and up through her veins, and all along her arm. She could feel it flowing from her into him. Absorbing into him. Transmuting from blood to raw power.

Callum’s body jerked. Once, twice...a _bunch_ of times.

He coughed and gasped, like he’d suddenly remembered how to breathe. Rayla felt the skin underneath her hand shifting, closing...healing. Callum’s skin started to glow as the magic in her blood filled him up. His eyes faded from the dark black they’d been to their regular color, and his face went from pale to flushed in seconds flat. He was breathing. He was alert.

He was _Callum_ again _._

“Callum?” she said.

“I really hope I didn’t kill you,” Soren said. “Are you in there, step-Prince?”

For just a moment, Callum said nothing.

Instead, he reached up and took Rayla’s hand from his chest. He cradled it a moment, staring at the almost-healed wound there. Then, without warning, he yanked her forward and wrapped her in a tight, suffocating hug.

“Thank you,” he said. “I don’t know what you did, but...thank you.”

She didn’t speak.

Couldn’t speak.

She reached around his ribs and hugged him right back.

“Ow,” he said. “Still sore.”

Rayla’s laugh shook them both.


	7. Entwined

“I _did_ tell you that you wouldn’t like it,” Claudia said.

“You under-sold it!” Rayla said. “That was horrifying.”

“But the spell worked,” Claudia said, grinning. “Just like I knew it would. Callum, how do you feel?”

Callum was clutched to Soren’s side, who was doing most of the walking for him. He took an unsteady step forward, leaving the steadying influence of Soren’s hands, and tried his best to look unaffected.

“Feels weird,” he said. “I mean, not the stab wound. That actually feels okay. But I feel...kind of tingly. Like I’ve got too many nerves.”

Claudia giggled.

“That’s because you do.”

“Hm?”

“The incantation,” she said. “ _Lous rouy fo eceip a._ It’s a bonding spell that fused the two of you together. It’s essentially...how can I put this. It’s a ‘neither can die while the other one lives’ kind of deal. You two are soul bonded now, so your lives are entwined. You’ll feel what Rayla feels. She’ll feel what you feel. And you can’t die unless it’s at the same time. Amazing, right?”

“ _What_?” Rayla said, her mouth hanging open. “Soul bonded?”

“Entwined??” Callum said, equally agog. “So now, whenever Rayla gets hurt, _I_ get hurt?”

“Yep,” Claudia said. “And the other way around, so it’s fair.”

“How is that fair? Rayla gets hurt _way_ more than I do!”

Rayla hit him—

And felt a pang of pain in her own shoulder.

“ _Ow_ ,” she said. “I didn’t hit you that hard! What kind of child’s pain tolerance do you have?”

“Don’t blame me!” Callum said. “I didn’t soul bond us together!”

“Actually _yes_ , you did!”

“Because you _made_ me.”

“Well I suppose I should’ve let you die, then!”

“And _I_ suppose _I_ should’ve never made that deal with the Ehtermind in the first place! So we’d still be stuck in those ropes, tied up in a cave, while these two drone on and on about nothing for so long they get frozen in time!”

Callum flung his hand sideways, and Rayla was fully prepared to carry on their slanging match. Before she could, though, a strange pulse radiated from Callum’s hand. It seemed to spread out all around them, like a weird bubble that never popped. Rayla felt the tips of her own hand tingling.

“What did you do?” she said.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I was thinking about the time-freezing spell the Ethermind used, and now…wait a minute.”

He was staring at Claudia and Soren.

And they were staring back.

Frozen. Completely still.

“Callum,” she said. “Did you do that?”

“I guess...I guess I did,” he said. “One of the Ethermind’s spells. I just thought about it, and then...this.”

Rayla tip-toed over to Claudia, an annoyingly doting expression on her face, and poked her shoulder. Nothing. She did it again, just to make sure. Her skin moved. And it looked like her eyes were shifting a little in place. But besides that, she was immobile. Soren was much the same, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword.

Statues.

“We can argue more about this later,” Rayla said. “We need to go. Before they un-freeze.”

She power-walked back by Callum, looking about for the edge of the road that would lead them away from here. Once they put some good distance between themselves and this forsaken cave, they could get to work picking up Ezran and Azymondias’ trail. And from there, it was on to Xadia, before any _more_ of the Katolis Crownguard caught up with them.

“Hey Rayla?” Callum said.

“What?”

“I’m...sorry.”

She turned back, eyebrows furrowed, and saw Callum staring at his own feet.

“Sorry for what?”

“I really _shouldn’t_ have made that deal with the Ethermind. I messed up, and you had to rescue me from it. And now you’re stuck bonded with me for...ever, I guess. And you didn’t ask for that, I know. So...I’m sorry.”

Rayla tried to keep her furrow strong.

But she couldn’t.

She sighed instead, and walked to him. Put her hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t apologize,” she said. “It worked, didn’t it? Are we not free now?”

“Yes, but—”

“Then come on,” she said, patting him once on the back. “Let’s go. Don’t waste the chance.”

She set off again, back towards the road. She didn’t look back to see his face, but heard his footsteps fall in line behind her. The sun was just beginning to rise over the tree line, and she finally let herself breathe a proper sigh of relief.

The words of the Ethermind came back to her.

The ones it had plucked from Callum’s head.

  


_You make me feel like I’m safe, even when we’re facing the greatest danger. No-one’s ever made me feel that way before. You’re special._

  


Maybe it was just a trick to try and lure her closer to him.

But then again...

“Besides,” she called over her shoulder. “There are worse people to be soul bonded with, I suppose.”

Behind her, she heard Callum’s footsteps get a little quicker.


End file.
